The Baltimore County Council held a public hearing on the final landmarks list for the Sparks School site and ruins, followed by a regular legislative session at 6:00 PM. The meeting included votes on several bills, appointments, fiscal matters, and resolutions.
We are holding this public hearing. This webinar is being transcribed. Good. We are holding this public hearing pursuant to the provisions of Baltimore County Code on the following issue. Final landmarks list edition of the Sparks School site and ruins and setting, which is 1.26 acres located at 1,000 Sparks Road in Sparks, Maryland. We will now read the rules of procedure for this public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak shall have registered online using the speaker registration form on the council's virtual sessions and hearings website prior to the meeting the hearing. Each speaker will be limited to three minutes. The council members, if they desire, may then ask brief questions. Caitlin Merritt from the Department of Planning will speak first on this request for final landmarks edition. Caitlin, take it away. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman Rattel and members of County Council. Thank you for letting me provide a brief introduction and summary of the Spark School site and ruins and setting for consideration of being placed on the final landmarks list. The site is located at 1000 Sparks Road in Sparks, Maryland District 3, and the property is presently owned by Balmer County. The site is located on the larger county park county park property of Sparks Park. The nomination was submitted by a third party. On November 11th, 2021, the landmarks preservation commission unanimously voted to place the Sparks School site in ruins along with its delineate setting of a little bit more than one and a quarter acres on the preliminary landmarks list. At the LPC's public hearing, the commission heard supportive testimony from the nominator of the site, and no opposition was heard at the hearing. The Sparks School was originally constructed in 1909 by local architects Thomas Jones and Sons with later additions in 1927 and 1936. It was built as an agricultural school for the northern part of the county and was one of the first agricultural schools constructed constructed in the United States before trends of agricultural schools in Maryland and other rural communities in the country took off. The school, formerly known as Sparks Agricultural School, consolidated five one room school houses. And when first opened, it contained both grade school and high school programs, but eventually it functioned as a high school and then later as an elementary school. The Sparks Agricultural School became a pilot pilot school in its course offerings of forestry and farming for boys and domestic sciences for girls instead of typical academic courses offered at traditional schools in Baltimore County. After its original construction, the school was expanded to make room for the growing northern Baltimore County's population. The first expansion came in 1927 with an addition to the rear of the original structure, which was designed by a local Baltimore firm of Smith and May. The firm of Smith and Bay May held a contract with county schools in the 1920s and 30s and are responsible for designing dozens of county schools, including a reason the recent final landmark, the Perry Hall School. Again, in 1936, major additions were made to the front and rear of the building, changing its exterior appearance. Again, architects Smith and May were contracted to complete those additions. Additional classrooms and teacher room teachers' rooms were added to the rear. A new front entrance was built with a three-arch porch, which still stands as its most prominent and recognizable feature today. The stone archway is also similar to other elementary schools, which are constructed in the 30s, including Pretty Boy Elementary and Fifth District Elementary. In 1954, Hereford High School opened and the Sparks Agricultural High School transitioned into a grade school, newly renamed as Sparks Elementary. Through the years, the school underwent occasional systems upgrades and tier renovations, but the exterior remained as it was in 1936. But unfortunately, in 1995, a fire destroyed the majority of school. All that survived is the 1936 Smith and May front entrance edition along with its arched facade. The ruins are two stories and are constructed of randomly course local stone and granite. The arched front facade, which has three evenly spaced stone arches, create an arcade enclosed on the sides, which fronts sparks road. The central arch is flanked on both sides with copper art deco style flagpole holders with its wooden flagpoles still held in place by suspension wires. The Spark School Ruins maintains enough integrity of materials and workmanship worthy of designation at the local level. The landmarks preservation commission found this site to meet our designation criteria and is significant as the site of the first agricultural schools in the state and county and for its association with the county's agricultural heritage. Additionally, the ruins Art Deco details masonry work and construction and style of the arches provide an example of a school building type seen in other parts of the county, as well as it being an example of work designed by local architecture firm of Smith in May. The three uh arches have become a prominent feature along Sparks Road and create a unique entrance feature into Sparks Park. It was the commission's intention to preserve this site as a ruin and provide opportunities for interpretation about the county's agricultural heritage. The proposed setting associated with the site is the immediate area around the rooting ruins, which includes the original footprint of the school of the school site. Um it does not include any recreational fields or courts. The LPC has already approved parking and entrance enhancements to to the park with which is which were located within the delineate setting of wreck and parks have been great at communicating with me whenever they have been on site doing cleanup work. Um the final landmark status to not impact any plan improvements to park fields or other park amenities. Thank you again. I'm here to have any questions.